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This chapter examines the creation of new forms of poverty and social vulnerability in contemporary Scandinavian welfare states by analysing the relationship between access to consumption on the one hand, and the experience of welfare and social integration on the other. The analysis builds on empirical results from a primarily qualitative, comparative research project on social vulnerability and consumption carried out in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Understanding the social dimension of consumption becomes particularly significant in the light of the increased individualisation and...

This chapter examines the creation of new forms of poverty and social vulnerability in contemporary Scandinavian welfare states by analysing the relationship between access to consumption on the one hand, and the experience of welfare and social integration on the other. The analysis builds on empirical results from a primarily qualitative, comparative research project on social vulnerability and consumption carried out in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Understanding the social dimension of consumption becomes particularly significant in the light of the increased individualisation and marketisation of the Scandinavian welfare states epitomised by a change in political regulation as well as by a shift in political rhetoric (from ‘citizen’ to ‘consumer’).